There was a young fellow looking at a plaque on the wall of the church. The pastor came up to him to see what he was doing.
“What are all these names on the wall?” the boy asked.
The pastor replied, “Those are the names or those who died in the service.”
“Oh,” the boy pondered, “Which service, the 8:30 or the 11:30?
Words are important. The field of semantics gets a bad rap. I’m not sure why. It’s really important stuff. How we formulate thought, how we structure and present our ideas and the choice of words we use can make all the difference in whether we are simply speaking, or communicating.
Of course, my mother used to say, “Make your words sweet, for one day you may have to eat them.”
There are rituals of communication in every culture. When to speak and how you speak. Ritual phrases that give context and meaning.
For example, in our own culture, phrases like, “Once upon a time…” or “This is a true story, no kidding!” Or “Here, hold my beer and watch this!”
There are rituals of communication in every culture. Knowing what they are can make all the difference. Jesus uses this knowledge to make a very important point about the Kingdom of God in his encounter with the Canaanite woman in today’s gospel passage.
Remember, the Jews of first century Palestine did not have a lot of interaction with Gentiles. There were many reasons for this, some good, some bad. In any event, her mere presence is irritating to the disciples and they just want her gone. Jesus chooses his words wisely so that his lesson for the disciples can make the best impact.
First he says nothing. Is he ignoring her on purpose or just waiting for the right moment? It comes with the disciples’ request to send her away.
Next, he states the obvious, at least that which would seem to be obvious to the disciples. As the Messiah, they would expect that he had only come to deliver “the lost sheep of Israel.” Jesus now has the disciples’ full attention. They expect him to put her in her place while affirming the privilege of theirs.
Next he says what they are all thinking. Does he really believe that she is a dog? Of course not, but many of them do. He already knows her faith and she shows it with her comment about even the dogs getting the scraps from the table.
Next he says and does something truly shocking. He praises her faith and heals her daughter. This rocks the world of his disciples. All their lives they were taught that they were the only ones who would enter the Kingdom, but if he can perform a miracle for this pagan foreigner, what does that say about the nature of the Kingdom. Is there room for Jews and Gentiles?
They would do well to listen to the words of the Lord spoken through the prophet Isaiah who said,
for my house shall be called
a house of prayer for all peoples.
Indeed, as St. Paul notes in his letter to the Roman, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled in the person of Christ and in his Church.
Paul is struggling with the fact that so many of his fellow Jews did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah and embrace the gospel. He reasons that once they see how powerfully the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled in the Gentiles, even if only out of jealousy, they will come to faith in Christ.
We in the Church should also take heed of the lesson of the Canaanite woman. Sometimes we can get a little smug, even when it comes to our relationship to other Christians. When we do so, we would do well to remember the encounter between Jesus and the Canaanite woman and what he has to teach us about the breadth of God’s mercy.
The Second Vatican Council says without apology, that the Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church. Namely, it is true that everything Jesus intended the Church to be is found here in the Catholic Church. But the Council also notes that nevertheless, there are
“many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible structure.” (LG 8)
So how are we to approach other Christians, or other people of faith?
I like the example of the Holy Father, who speaks so eloquently about personal encounter with the other in a spirit of fraternal accompaniment
This approach dovetails very well with the powerful example of Pope St. John Paul II, who showed us how to stand in the truth in love.
The Catholic Church shall never compromise the Sacred Tradition or cease to be who Christ has called us to be. But we can change the way we approach others in the world. After centuries of acrimony in our relationship with others, at the Second Vatican Council, the Church chose fraternal dialogue as the way that we will engage the world.
This includes other Christians, other people of faith, and even people of no faith. As Christ did with the Canaanite woman and with so many others, we hold out the open hand friendship to of all people of good will.
Remember, whatever Christ touches Christ transforms. The same is true for the Body of Christ, the Church.
Our job as individuals, as families, as a parish, as an archdiocese and as a universal Church is to become so much a part of our neighborhoods, our town, our country, our world that they cannot imagine life without us.
It is in our encounter with the world that we truly become Lumen Gentium, a light to the people.
Let us be people of such a light, let us allow Christ to touch our hearts and transform them into a heart like unto his own,
so that in our encounter with others, even those very much unlike us, Christ may touch and transform them,
and the words of the psalmist may echo through to the four corners of the earth:
O God, let all the nations praise you!